How a 43-Year-Old Mom Burned 30 Pounds of Fat In 98 Days

I have read so many Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle success story articles since I originally became a member, that I’m amazed I’m now adding to them myself. After winning the Burn the Fat Challenge, and especially now that spring is here and I’m not hidden under layers of clothing, I get asked, “How did you do it?” quite a bit. I get the impression that most people want a simple answer like “no carbs” or “cut out all sugar”, but I tell them for me reading Tom Venuto’s Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle carefully and paying close attention to the mental training and goal setting in chapter 6 of the book are what made all the difference. It really does work!

Almost everyone wants more detail about my 98-day transformation, so here are a few of the things I learned on my journey from hiding hideous fat to being happy, healthy and proud…

I am Lori Meyers and these are my stats and my essay from the Burn the Fat Challenge:

My starting and finishing stats:

Height 5’3″
Before Weight: 166
After Weight: 136 (-30 pounds)
Before Body Fat Percentage (Navy): 39.2%
After Body Fat Percentage (Navy): 24.4% (-14.8%)
Before Lean Body Mass: 100.9
After Lean Body Mass: 102.8 (+1.9 pounds)
Before Waist: 32 inches
After Waist: 26.5 inches (-5.5 inches)
Before Hips: 43.8 inches
After Hips: 38.5 inches (-5.3 inches)
 

My Burn the Fat Challenge Essay:

“Self-trust is the essence of heroism.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

The self-neglect that led to nearly 40% body fat severely battered my faith in myself. I allowed the stresses of life to become excuses that chipped away at my health and self-esteem. When I picked up my husband’s copy of Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle, a spark of hope was ignited. That spark turned into a fat-burning four-alarm fire as I joined the Burn the Fat Inner Circle and read the success stories from past challenges.

With the incredible guidance of Tom Venuto’s book and the Inner Circle, I have transformed myself from someone who sees life’s unexpected challenges (and there were plenty during this 14 weeks) as excuses, to someone who sees them as opportunities to rebuild my self-trust.

The Golden Rule Made Me Do It

I never thought I would enter a body transformation challenge like this, but I felt so inspired by the possibilities evident in the success stories. What if they had never put themselves out there, where would I be? I have been raised by the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” I thought, if there is a chance that I could inspire others as I have been inspired, I have to do it.

Tom’s amazing book (I listen to some of the audio version every day) and the members of the Burn the Fat Inner Circle gave me the tools. I could see what was working for people, and felt I could ask any kind of question because of the kindness and generosity of the members. In the first month, when I was working so hard and still looking so fat, I turned to other people and got strength from them.

Element One: Mental

The mental element has been the foundation of my transformation.

Without realizing it I had become a self-pitying, negative person. Life had thrown me some big challenges: two kids on the autism spectrum (my daughter is fairly severe and mostly non-verbal) and a neck injury brought on by a drunk driver. One thing I’ve learned from this transformation is that an unattractive, out of shape body just makes it worse.

Life throws everyone obstacles that they cannot control. Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle mental strategies helped me begin to focus on the equally impressive quantity of things I can control. That has made all the difference.

I set my short term and long term goals and filled my mind with affirmations about what I could and would do. I visualized myself at my goal in every setting I could. This led to discoveries about what mental blocks had kept me back. The members of the Burn the Fat Inner Circle were there to help me create affirmations that knocked those negative ideas right out of my head.

Daily mental training is just as important to me as what I eat. Now, when life throws me a curveball, I am ready to hit it out of the park.

Element Two: Nutrition

When I first started reading Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, I told my husband, “There is no way I’m going to count calories; I’ll just eat better.” The fact that counting calories was not mandatory got me to keep reading. Of course, by the time I finished the nutrition chapter I was a believer. With all the apps out there, counting calories is actually kind of fun and empowering. I found myself motivated to eat more and more healthy, “clean” food as I developed new habits.

It also helped that I could eat so much more of the fresh fruits and vegetables than my old processed staples. I can honestly say that my cravings for junk were rare. Knowing that I could have anything I wanted if I just counted it really helped.

My old, mindless eating habits have been replaced with a real enjoyment of food that nourishes me. I gave up drinking wine, other than one third of a glass of chianti and a glass of pinot. It wasn’t until I cut back (to save calories) that I realized what a negative impact it was having on my life. Basically, when I drink wine I become a couch-potato, french fry-eating endomorph! I am so thankful that healthy mental and physical strategies have replaced using wine as a crutch.

Element Three: Resistance training

My new favorite activity is absolutely weight training. In the past I always turned to cardio if I wanted to lose weight. If I did resistance training, it was low weight, high rep “toning” type workouts that I found tedious. I loved following the TNB-28 workout (from Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle) for the first half of the challenge and then switched to a five day split. I took it pretty slowly on the upper body since years of babying my neck left it very weak.

I feel so incredibly strong and powerful now. Of course the amazing changes to the shape of my body have been very motivating. Following my muscle feeding eating plan is easier because I can’t wait to shed the extra fat so I can see those muscles I’ve been sculpting!

Element Four: Cardio

I kept cardio as my “ace in the hole” as suggested by Tom in Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. I started with three days a week, which was enough to reach my goal of 2 pounds per week. I ramped it up as needed toward the end of the challenge. I’m looking forward to taking it outside this spring!

My Own Hero

I achieved my results by being an ongoing student of the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle lifestyle. I will be a champion who maintains my results and continues to improve. Five years from now newbies will hear my audio success story and be inspired. They will look up my current progress journal at the Burn the Fat Inner Circle and feel hope. My commitment to service will motivate me to be an example for future newbies like so many past Burn the Fat champions were for me.

-Lori